Three little words reveal a big truth about Blagojevich

June 25, 2010|Eric Zorn | Change of Subject

Legally irrelevant though they certainly are, three words stood out for me as I was listening to one of the telephone wiretap recordings of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich as it was being played for a federal jury in his corruption trial.

"Oh, that's all?"

This was Blagojevich's response to an offhand estimate from Deputy Gov. Bob Greenlee that heads of charitable foundations earn an annual salary "in the twos and threes," meaning hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"Oh, that's all?"

The context: In this Nov. 5, 2008, three-way call, Blagojevich, who then earned $177,412, was exploring with Greenlee and his chief of staff, John Harris, what sort of plum job Blagojevich might be able to get by leveraging his power to appoint a U.S. senator to succeed Barack Obama, who had been elected president the previous day.

It's not a crime to be greedy or to think primarily of your own desires when entrusted with a profound public responsibility. It's not a crime to sag with disappointment at the prospect of struggling by on somewhat less than $400,000 a year. But here, these and other pipe-dream conversations cut deeply against the defense narrative that Blagojevich was merely a beleaguered chief executive trying to do the best for the people of Illinois who twice elected him.

"Oh, that's all?"

I was reminded of cash-from-janitors, a similar legally irrelevant moment during former Gov. George Ryan's federal corruption trial in the same building in 2005 and 2006. During testimony, jurors learned that Ryan routinely accepted money at Christmas from underlings, including low-paid custodians and clerical workers.

Ryan wasn't charged with that bit of unseemly pocket stuffing. But the lack of character it revealed made the actual charges of which he was ultimately convicted seem more plausible.

Similarly, Blagojevich's grandiose ambitions along with his apparent disengagement with the simple question of who would be the best person to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate underscore his lack of character.

"Oh, that's all?"

The proper, self-aware response would have been, "Wow! Really? An ineffectual ex-governor who was so tainted by scandal that his party kept him off the podium at the national convention when his state's favorite son was being nominated, and who is currently so toxic that no one of any consequence dares to speak to him directly, can land a job paying more than 200 large a year? Hallelujah!"

But Blagojevich clearly does not do awareness either of self or of circumstance. In recording after recording, he is heard yammering on as though he truly believes Obama would risk even a dime of his newly minted political capital to pull strings for him and as though Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan would squander the bright political future of his daughter, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, by linking her appointment to the Senate with the passage of legislation the speaker otherwise opposed.

And though his advisers are heard gently dissuading him from some of his most preposterous notions — that Obama would appoint Blagojevich U.N. ambassador in exchange for allowing him to name his own successor, for instance — they've not yet been heard telling him what he needed to hear:

"How about this for an idea? Pretend that you're not an avaricious, petty, paranoid schemer and just do the right thing. Stay above reproach for once. Forget your personal agenda and pick a senator you think will be best for Illinois.

"Maybe good things won't follow. Ingrates are everywhere in politics. But to restore your reputation, you've got to show genuine integrity in making this decision."

To such a scolding, "Oh, that's all?" would have been a great response.

The answer: No, but it would be a start.

Discuss this column at chicagotribune.com/zorn when you can link to transcripts and audio files of the wiretap recordings.